Ravnogorski Biseri – Images from Ravnogor (Aide Aide Music & Dance, 2025)
Images from Ravnogor offers an unfiltered window into the traditional music of southern Bulgaria. Specifically, the album captures the captivating, raw and emotive vocal and instrumental traditions of Ravnogor, a village nestled in the western Rhodope Mountains. Notably, the performers didn’t use arrangements.
The group Ravnogorski Biseri (The Pearls of Ravnogor) includes elder women who inherited this oral tradition through generations. Despite their age, they remain active participants in regional gatherings and festivals, preserving and presenting their community’s heritage with authenticity and pride.
The recording invites listeners to experience Ravnogor as a living landscape. Field recordings of local birdsongs, mountain winds, and village life frame the songs. These natural soundscapes, drawn entirely from the Rhodope Mountains and the village itself, were recorded by Virginia Zaharieva and Johnny Penkov (previously featured on Bulgarian Nature Sounds, 2002), as well as Nina Grantcharova and Gyorgy Stuber.
Sessions took place in June 2024 at the local community center library, “April 23, 1876–1909.” Sound engineer Borislav Zgurovski led recording, mixing, and mastering, with sound design by Mihail Dinchev, Grantcharova, and Ivo Christov. Christov also handled photography and graphic design, while Rebecca Wolfe provided the English translation. The project was produced by Dinchev and Grantcharova for Aide Aide Music & Dance.
The album features guest soloist Stoyanka Koleva on various tracks; kaba gaida player Angel Uzunov appears throughout, adding the deep bagpipe drone typical of the region. Elena Pashkuleva delivers a spoken story on track 18 and a recitative on track 19.
Ravnogorski Biseri members: Yanka Toneva, Nikolinka Puncheva, Nikolinka Bilbileva, Elena Pashkuleva, Elena Stambolieva, Elena Tomova, Petrunka Smerkaleva, Maria Christoskova, and Nedyalka Hadzhieva.
Author: JGurski
